"He told me to stay positive, something like that"

I can't post much because I'm looking into two health stories related to the 2009 AT&T National final round. One involves reports of several suicide attempts after the second mesmerizingly depressing SPCA ad ran during the finale. The other involves the poor lad turning his back and bending over to avoid Anthony Kim's 18th hole drive, only to be plunked on the tush.

Meanwhile, Thomas Bonk, writing about Tiger Woods' win over rival-in-the-making Kim:

Kim dropped to third behind Mahan with a one-over 71. The way things were going, his most interesting shot of the day might have been his tee shot at the 18th, where the ball went so far off-line, it popped a fan on the derriere.

Woods and Kim shook hands before they got started and that's about as close as they got the rest of the day, unless you count the times they stood in the tee box together. Until they chatted while walking down the 18th fairway, they hadn't exchanged a word.

"He told me to stay positive, something like that," Kim said.

See how took those words to heart!

Kim chalked the whole thing up as a learning experience, sort of on-the-job training.

"I learned that if you have a birdie putt, you'd better make it, especially on the last day," Kim said. "Tiger obviously wins for a reason."

See, he doesn't miss a beat.

Two mind-boggling Tiger stats, courtesy of the PGA Tour's Mark Williams:

• Woods has now won 46 of 49 tournaments (94%) when leading/co-leading after 54-holes. The three he didn't win -- 1996 Quad City Open/T5, 2000/2004 THE TOUR Championship/2ndboth times.

• Woods has won 32 of 38 tournaments after holding the 36-hole lead/co-lead -- that's 84 percent.

Comments

[Josh]

That Hunter's gonna win a stack of events before his days are through, should be helped by the groove changes to.

[Scott]

Did you read the AP story? It sounds like the writer was watching the telecast rather than following Woods on the course.

"Mahan finished hitting balls and was headed to the putting green when a young girl approached him for an autograph.

He might not have noticed what was written on the back of her T-shirt: "Tiger's Back." "

[Golden Bell]

Scott, golf writers almost always watch the telecast down the stretch. Only way to be in more than one place at once.

[Steven T.]

Is TW the best front runner since Secretariat?

[The Devil's Arsehole]

In my opinion, Kim has been handed too much too soon and does not have the drive to be great on the PGA tour. He was called out as the Tiger tamer before he'd proven anything and he hasn't come close to living up to the hype. The way he just kept hitting the same shot time after time yesterday was very worrisome. He's like a slightly more successful male version of Michelle Wie.

[cbo]

They always talk about Tiger's "closing" percentage, but what is average? What about Phil or Vijay? Tiger's numbers seem staggering, but if the average among top-10 players in the world is 80%, then they are less so. Just wondering.

[OWGR Fan]

cbo Phil is around 72-73 percent based on this article from earlier this year. Seems that Phil and Tiger are both well above the norm in closing events out.

http://www.golfobserver.com/blog/blognews/recaps/2009/02/23/northerntrustmickwin

Then there is this......

Although stunning in its wreckage, Winged Foot was less the exception than the rule. Statistically, the final stages of a golf tournament--particularly a major championship, and especially the U.S. Open--are more about failure than success. Since 1980, when the PGA Tour began keeping track, players who held or shared the lead entering the final round have won just more than 40 percent of the time. In the first three months of this year's PGA Tour, critical gaffes by last-round leaders--Charles Howell III at Sony, Justin Rose at the Hope, Jeff Quinney at FBR, Mickelson at Riviera, Boo Weekley at Honda and Heath Slocum at PODS--led to demoralizing defeats. At the Masters, Stuart Appleby couldn't hold on, shooting 75 to slip into a tie for seventh. And in the LPGA's first major of the year, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, 54-hole co-leaders Se Ri Pak and Suzann Pettersen collapsed in the final holes to hand the trophy to early finisher Morgan Pressel.

The seeming ease with which Tiger Woods closes tournaments has created a false impression. Woods' record of winning 40 of the 43 times he has carried the lead into the final round (93 percent) is one of the most eloquent measures of his greatness. Although records before 1960 are sketchy--precluding precise counts for such giants as Hogan, Snead and Nelson--it appears that no other important player is even close to Woods' level (see chart, page 186). Nicklaus converted 38 of 63 times (60 percent). Johnny Miller, who infuriates players with suggestions of choking, closed 14 of 19 times (74 percent). Phil Mickelson is an impressive 16 of 23 (70 percent, counting his success at Pebble and failure at Riviera this year). Conversely, Greg Norman, who lost a six-stroke final-round lead in the 1996 Masters, was only eight of 23 (35 percent).

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HFI/is_6_58/ai_n27907552/

[OWGR Fan]

And some more numbers. These are from 2007 as well.

RATING
THE CLOSERS

SELECTED WINNING PERCENTAGES BY GOLFERS
WHO HELD OR SHARED THE LEAD ENTERING THE
FINAL ROUND OF TOUR EVENTS AND IN MAJORS:
PGA/LPGA TOUR EVENTS

WINS / WINNING
PLAYER LEADS PCT.

TIGER WOODS 40 of 43 93%
JOHNNY MILLER 14 of 19 74%
PHIL MICKELSON 16 of 23 70%
ARNOLD PALMER 36 of 53 68%
PATTY SHEEHAN 19 of 28 68%
KARRIE WEBB 19 of 28 68%
ANNIKA SORENSTAM 28 of 46 61%
JACK NICKLAUS 38 of 63 60%
BETH DANIEL 13 of 30 43%
DAVIS LOVE 111 9 of 23 39%
GREG NORMAN 8 of 23 35%
TOM LEHMAN 3 of 14 21%

MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

WINS / WINNING
PLAYER LEADS PCT.

TIGER WOODS 12 of 12 100%
JACK NICKLAUS 10 of 12 83%
GARY PLAYER 5 of 6 83%
LEE TREVINO 4 of 5 80%
PHIL MICKELSON 3 of 4 75%
ARNOLD PALMER 6 of 10 60%
TOM WATSON 6 of 12 50%
RAYMOND FLOYD 3 of 6 50%
BOBBY JONES 3 of 6 50%
BEN CRENSHAW 1 of 4 25%
TOM LEHMAN 1 of 5 20%
SAM SNEAD 1 of 5 20%
GREG NORMAN 1 of 7 14%

[Johnny Knoxville]

As my friend Vincent Grieco told me " It is as ugly as ever. After yesterday Tiger has 451.68 total points over his last 22 tournaments: twelve 1sts, two 2nds, one 4th, one 5th, two 6ths, one 8th, one 9th (that's 20 top 10s if you're keeping track), one 12th, and one 17th. If you divide 451.68 by 22 you get 20.53 average points. Phil's average is 8.47. We're still closer to Phil than Phil is to Tiger. We are playimg great, keep it up.

PS : Tiger's "adjusted" average (dividing by the minimum 40 tournaments) is STILL out of reach... 11.29

[Phil the Author]

And yet the single most outstanding statistic concerning Tiger's ability to close the deal...

He has not won a single major when entering the final round trailing by any margin, even a single shot...

[OWGR Fan]

Phil I would imagine that at some point Tiger is going to lose a major while leading after 3 rounds and will win one when trailing after 3 rounds.

It is amazing he has not come from behind to win a major yet after 3 rounds considering he has 22 PGA Tour wins when coming from behind.